Headless Linux, LylaCaptcha, BlogCFC and Bluedragon: Part 1

Posted At : March 30, 2007 4:56 PM | Posted By : Terry Schmitt
Related Categories: Bluedragon,ColdFusion,BlogCFC

I use a CentOS VPS at Viviotech and while not a Linux nut, I manage to install a few things, keep my email working and the occasional web site running.

I decided to install BlogCFC, but it bombs out while loading. I'm running Bluedragon 6.2.1, which has trouble with LylaCaptcha (actually any graphic manipulation). The BlogCFC documentation states to disable Captcha, but that didn't make me happy... Leaving the door wide open to spammers didn't make sense.

The Bluedragon installation doc talks about this problem concerning "headless" Linux installs. While not supported by NewAtlanta, it provides a link to this good reference.

I also found a post by Adam Howitt that helped.

...and this note on ImageCFC.

Here is what led to a successfull load of BlogCFC with Captcha enabled:

1. Modified my /opt/bluedragon/bin/StartBluedragon.sh file from:

"$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" -server $HEAPSIZES $OPTIONS -classpath "$NEW_CLASSPATH" com.newatlanta.webserver.BlueDragon &

To:

"$JAVA_HOME/bin/java" -server $HEAPSIZES $OPTIONS -classpath "$NEW_CLASSPATH" -Djava.awt.headless=true com.newatlanta.webserver.BlueDragon &

Note the addition of:

-Djava.awt.headless=true

2. Installed XFree86 via CP+ and YUM.
3. After XFree86 and dependancies had installed, I restarted Bluedragon, reloaded BlogCFC and what do you know! It worked... Sort of... At least BlogCFC loaded, but the darned LylaCaptcha still wouldn't work. The image would not display.

Part 2 to follow...